Wealthsimple Trade Review 2025

What is Wealthsimple Self-Directed Investing (Formerly Wealthsimple Trade)?

Wealthsimple self-directed investing is an online brokerage that lets you buy individual stocks and other assets. It’s part of the Wealthsimple ecosystem – a financial company (primarily owned by the massive Quebec-based conglomerate Power Corp) that has 2.6 million customers and oversees $50 billion+ in assets. Wealthsimple itself kicked off in 2014, while the self-directed platform officially made its debut in 2019.

Unlike Wealthsimple Managed Investing (formerly called Wealthsimple Invest) and other Canadian robo advisors, Wealthsimple Trade is fully hands-on. That means you’re the one doing the research, choosing which stocks or ETFs to buy, and deciding when to sell. Sure, that can mean that you save a bit on fees by doing your own homework – but it also ramps up the risk factor.

If you’re wondering how robo-advisors differ from self-directed brokerages, you might want to check out our Wealthsimple vs Qtrade article, as well as our Wealthsimple vs Questrade guide.

In this Wealthsimple Trade review, we’ll walk you through all the ins and outs of the platform, lay out what’s great and what’s lacking, and then compare it to Qtrade – my personal favorite among Canada’s best online brokers. Finally, we’ll let you know who this platform makes sense for, and whether it’s worth your time and your money. (*Spoiler: probably not – unless dabbling in crypto.)

Is Wealthsimple Trade Safe?

Wealthsimple is, indeed, legit. Wealthsimple Trade is regulated by IIROC (Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada) and has industry backing to the tune of $380 million from some of the world’s biggest banks. Their majority owner is Power Corporation of Canada, which has been around for more than 100 years.

Not only is Wealthsimple legit, it’s safe. Their custodial broker, Canadian ShareOwner (the company that holds your funds) is Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF) protected up to $1 million per account. They use 2-factor authentication for their apps and browser interface and feature bank-level security including a 128-bit SSL certificate and the backup programs and firewalls that are standard in the financial industry.

Wealthsimple Trade Review: Trading Fees & Commissions

Wealthsimple Trade was the first online brokerage in Canada to charge no commissions at all. It has since been joined by National Bank Discount Brokerage. Most other online brokerages charge between $4.95 and $9.95 per trade.

Wealthsimple Trade gives you free access to thousands of stocks and ETFs on North America’s largest stock exchanges, as well as 20+ kinds of cryptocurrency if you add on Wealthsimple Crypto.

Now, any honest Wealthsimple Trade review has to note near the top that even though you are not paying upfront for your trade, you are paying through the selling of your market trade information to meta-buyers. These buyers pay Wealthsimple for your trading information so that they can then front-run trades using algorithms.

Basically, the phrase: If you aren’t paying for the product, you ARE the product – has never been more true.

Wealthsimple also makes substantial money on the currency conversion fees from when you purchase US stocks, as well as the cash balances sitting in your account. 

You have no required minimum balance to begin investing, and you can purchase fractional shares as low as $1. This is helpful if you’re starting out and don’t have a lot to invest. 

Note: not all shares are available for fractional share purchase.

Account And Transaction Fees

Wealthsimple Trade really means it when they say no fees for trading. 

They do charge a 1.5% base conversion fee when making US trades, so keep that in mind if you’re interested in cross-border investment. If you plan to try strategies like Norbert’s Gambit, this is not the platform for you. 

They also charge a hefty 1.5-2% fee for cryptocurrency transactions.

There is a $20 fee for paper statements (save a tree, everyone). There’s also an optional premium service, which we’ll get into shortly.

Wealthsimple has been criticized in the past for shifting customers away from their previous laser focus on low-fee investing to its much more profitable cryptocurrency trading arm, as well as its trading platform.

Available Investments With Wealthsimple Trade

Wealthsimple Trade gives you access to thousands of US and Canadian stocks and ETFs that are listed on the following exchanges:

• Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX)
• TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV)
• New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
• NASDAQ
• NEO
• Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE)
• BATS Exchange

Wealthsimple Trade does not support investments other than stocks or ETFs. This means that the following assets are not available for trading on this platform:

• Mutual Funds
• Preferred Shares
• Options
• Securities that trade over the counter (OTC)
• Forwards & Futures
• Rights and Warrants
• Bonds
• Investment Savings Accounts & Money Markets
• Non-North American ETFs and stocks

Wealthsimple Trade Review: Account Options

For a long time Wealthsimple self directed investing only had basic non-registered accounts, RRSPs, and TFSAs. However, they have recently fleshed out a more full range of options including:

• Individual brokerage account
• Business brokerage account
• Tax-free savings account (TFSA)
• Registered retirement savings plan (RRSP)
• Spousal RRSP
• Registered education savings plan (RESP)
• Locked-in retirement account (LIRA)
• First Home Savings Account (FHSA)

Overall, while they don’t have quite as many options as some other brokerages, they can cover the vast majority of what the average Canadian investor would need.

Wealthsimple Trade Premium Program: Real-time Stock Prices

Two other downsides of Wealthsimple Trade are the 3-4 day hold on deposits over $1500 and the fact that the stock prices and market data on the platform are 15 minutes old. If either (or both!) of those things bother you, you could consider registering for Wealthsimple Trade Premium.

For $3/mo (plus tax) you can access Snap Quotes (real time stock prices and up to the minute market data available between 9:30 am and 4:00 pm Eastern time). You also quadruple your maximum instant deposit, allowing you to instantly add up to $5000 every 3-4 business days.

On the one hand, we’re happy they offer these options for a reasonable price… but on the other hand, if you’re serious enough about trading that you need up to the minute stock prices, there are other platforms that give you more data and analytics, plus more asset and account options, as part of their basic package. 

You can learn more about what other trading apps have to offer in our collection of The Best Stock Trading Apps in Canada. 

How To Sign Up For Wealthsimple Trade

To open a Wealthsimple account, you must be a Canadian resident at the legal age of majority for your province (18 or 19, depending on where you live).

Signing up is easy. First, download the app. Then enter your personal information and banking info. Wealthsimple will ask for your:

• Full Name
• Email
• Social Insurance Number (SIN)
• Date of Birth
• Address
• Phone Number
• Employment information

Once you’ve linked a bank account, you can move money into your account (you should be able to deposit up to $1500 instantly, but larger transactions can take about 3 days) and then begin investing.

If you have a Wealthsimple Invest account you can use your existing credentials to open an account, but your accounts will be separate. You can have separate TFSAs, RRSPs, and personal accounts with both Wealthsimple Trade and Wealthsimple Invest.

Wealthsimple Trade Welcome Bonus and More

Wealtsimple self-directed investing’s latest welcome bonus is $50, plus some free trades.

In addition, If you have an account with another brokerage, and transfer your account to Wealthsimple, they will reimburse the $150 transfer fee.

Frankly, that massively pales in comparison to the incredible deal that Qtrade has going. Check out my Qtrade promo code article for more details. But long story short, you can get $400 instantly with a $5,000 deposit (plus free trades, plus free account transfer). If you’re moving over a bigger account, you can get up to $2,150 cash back!

Features, Tools, And Ease of Use

Wealthsimple’s trading platform is not our favourite (to say the least).

It’s streamlined to the point of oversimplification. Also, the browser version is relatively new and prone to be buggy.

The Wealthsimple site has some video resources like an investing master class that “will turn you into a financial genius in less than 45 minutes.” [Spoiler alert: it doesn’t]

Wealthsimple Trade Mobile App

Wealthsimple Trade was Canada’s first free trading app.

They pride themselves on a clean design and intuitive user interface… which is why we were surprised when we tried it and found it clunky and confusing.

While it does provide basic performance information for assets, the Wealthsimple interface doesn’t provide you with the analysis tools or in-depth information that many investors look for. You also don’t have a way to automatically buy or sell investments. And unless you’re giving Wealthsimple $3/month for the premium service, your stock quotes are always 15 minutes out of date. It’s definitely tailored for the new or casual investor.

Another downside for Wealthsimple Invest customers who want to try their hand at active investing: your Wealthsimple Invest and Wealthsimple Trade accounts aren’t linked. You can transfer funds between them, but only as cash.

Wealthsimple Trade Review: Customer Service

Wealthsimple Trade is designed for investors who want to do it themselves – and they took that to heart with their customer service! 

They have a Trade Help Centre (basically an FAQ) plus an email address in case you can’t find the answer to a question yourself. They have recently added a virtual assistant service and priority customer service support for Premium and Generation clients. In comparison to the best online brokerages, it is still extremely limited.

The MDJ editorial team was unanimous in saying that we had received more complaints about the Wealthsimple Trade platform in 2021 than any other broker-related issue from any of the platform options. Currently it has a 2.1 star customer service rating on TrustPilot.

Wealthsimple Trade or Wealthsimple Invest?

Wealthsimple offers two ways to invest. In this section of our Wealthsimple Trade Review, we’ll look at the pros and cons of each.

Wealthsimple Trade

Through Wealthsimple Trade, investors will take on a more hands-on approach. They will trade their own stocks and ETFs, and will need to make sure to rebalance it regularly. 

When you use Wealthsimple Trade, you will have access to:

• Commission-free trading
• North American Stock Exchanges (but will need to pay a 1.5% currency exchange fee in order to trade US stocks)
• Crypto trading
• Canadian savings accounts such as TFSA and RRSP

What you will not be able to do with a Wealthsimple Trade account is purchase Mutual Funds, or jump onto an IPO purchase.

While Wealthsimple Trade began as an app only platform, it is now accessible from your PC, Mac or laptop. The interface is similar to the app in terms of simplicity and ease of use. 

As far as the app goes, there have been known to be lags in getting up-to-the-minute quotes as well as accessing your funds when you want to withdraw.

Wealthsimple

Wealthsimple, also called Wealthsimple Invest, is a robo advisor service that offers a diverse range of portfolio choices for clients to choose from, making it easy to start investing.

When you use Wealthsimple you will have access to:

• In addition to more traditional ETFs, you’ll be able to choose from a selection of 6 ETFs, each offering a vetted group of companies that reflect clients’ particular values. For example, it offers a halal investing portfolio, and socially responsible portfolio.
• Automatic rebalancing will be done automatically, so as needed, purchases of stocks and bonds needed for a well–balanced portfolio will be made without you needing to worry about it.
• 3 levels of accounts with varying services and fees: Basic, Black and Generation

While Wealthsimple does offer a range of unique offerings, it comes at a cost with a management fee of 0.4-0.5% depending on account balance. This is higher than most other robo advisor services. In addition, the platform doesn’t offer some of the tools and resources many other platforms do.

Wealthsimple Trade vs Qtrade

Our Wealthsimple Trade review wouldn’t be complete without putting it head-to-head with Qtrade, our most recommended discount broker. You can find the basic details and some general comments here, but be sure to check out our Qtrade vs Wealthsimple article as well.

Canadian ETFs	Free to buy and sell	Free to buy and sell
User Experience	Excellent - consistently ranked #1 in Canada. Built for Canadian users exclusively.	Average. Customer service can be difficult to reach, and there have been complaints about order processing times.
Account Options	RRSP, RESP, TFSA, LIRA, RRIF, LIF,LIRA, FHSA, USD accounts. Joint, corporate, and trust options.	Personal / business, TFSA, RRSP, RESP, LIRA, FHSA
Safety	CIPF Member, IIROC regulated	CIPF Member, IIROC regulated
Mutual Fund Purchases	Available, Free of charge	Not Available
Investment options	Stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, bonds, new issues (IPOs and secondary/treasury offerings), GICs, options.	Stocks and ETFs, crypto.
promotion	Instant Sign Up Bonus: $150-$2,150	$50 Cash Bonus
Sign Up	Visit Qtrade	Visit Wealthsimple Trade

We have a full Qtrade review in addition to our comparison article, so you can dig deeper if you want all the details…but here’s the gist: If you want to do more than scratch the surface of DIY investing, Qtrade is the clear choice. The only advantage we see in Wealthsimple Trade is that it’s free…and that’s just not good enough.

Wealthsimple Trade Review FAQ

Should You Use Wealthsimple Trade?

When it comes to choosing the right brokerage, cost is usually one of the first things that comes to mind. Sure, there are perks to paying next to nothing for all of your trading needs, but always ask yourself, “What are the hidden costs?”

In the case of Wealthsimple Trade, the cost might not be monetary, but you are paying for it with your personal information. This might not sit well with some. In addition, because it’s a basic app with simplistic functionality and extremely limited customer service, you might not be able to get assistance when you really need it.

For a better quality service, you will pay a little extra, but for some it will be well worth the cost. If you are looking for more out of your brokerage than Wealthsimple Trade has to offer, have a look at our list of Best Online Brokers in Canada. You’ll see that Qtrade tops our list. To find out why, head over to our full Qtrade review.